A home network, also known as a home area network, is a residential local area network. It is used for communication between devices typically deployed in a home. The devices involved are usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers, routers, switches and mobile computing devices. In most home networks an important function is the sharing of Internet access, often a broadband service through a cable television, fibre or digital subscriber line (DSL) provider. Additionally, a home server may also be added for increased functionality.
One common way of creating a home network is by creating a wireless local area network (WLAN), which can be based on any IEEE 802.11 specification, Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig) specifications, high speed packet access (HSPA), HSPA evolution, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), etc. A home network can also include a combination of different network access technologies. Femtocells can be advantageously used in the design of wireless home networks. A wireless home network can be used to connect electronic devices to each other, to the Internet, and/or to wired networks which use Ethernet technology, for instance.
As an alternative to wireless technologies, the existing home wiring can be used to create a home network. The Internet access can be achieved over the existing wiring between the home and an access provider. The connectivity for the Internet access can be based on, for example, coaxial (coax) cables, phone wires, fibres or power lines to allow devices to transfer information. The ITU-T G.hn and IEEE Power Line Standard, which provide high-speed (up to 1 Gbit/s) local area networking over existing home wiring, are examples of home networking technologies designed specifically for Internet protocol television (IPTV) delivery. The user can install a wired home network by using special wall plugs which can support different access technologies, such as Power Line Standard, polymer optical fibre or Ethernet. With the installation of a home network, the network can be accessed by simply plugging a computer into a wall socket.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.